Lovers of club football will be glad to know that this international break is drawing to a close, with the next one will for the Qatar World Cup. Attentions can now shift back to the domestic front and Serie A will be back with a bang. Inter Milan welcomes AS Roma to San Siro as Jose Mourinho returns to his former stomping ground.
Jose Mourinho Returns to Milan
Inter Are In Need of a Big Win
Inter Milan ran their city rivals so close last term. Neither are currently in the driver’s seat in the Scudetto race, that honour falls at the feet of Napoli and Atalanta with Udinese as a shock third place, after Udinese ran out 3-1 victors over Inter.
After kicking things off with two wins, Simone Inzaghi’s men have since been rather inconsistent. Loss, win, loss, win, loss is the pattern- Lazio and city rivals Milan getting the better of them as well as the aforementioned Udinese. Rafael Leao starred for the Rossoneri in the derby, netting twice in a five-goal thriller.
Still thinking of this Giorgio Scalvini 𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙮 @Atalanta_BC? ⚫🔵 pic.twitter.com/Hdj39zqihn
— Lega Serie A (@SerieA_EN) September 24, 2022
AS Roma are just one point better off as Jose Mourinho returns to Inter this Saturday night. They themselves closed things out with a defeat prior to the international break, and will be hoping that the gap is enough. 18-year-old Giorgio Scalvini scored the only goal of the game at the Stadio Olimpico between Atalanta and the Giallorossi. Udinese also saw off Roma thanks to four different scorers in a one-sided affair. Former Watford man Roberto Pererya and teenager Destiny Udogie were amongst those to find the back of the net.
Inter prevailed in both fixtures against Roma last season on their march to second place. Dutch wingback Denzel Dumfries was on target home and away, plus the ex-Roma man Edin Dzeko came back to bite his former employers in the emphatic win on the road.
Read More: Former Manchester United Target Paulo Dybala Signs for Jose Mourinho’s Roma
Jose Mourinho Returns Home
There is an obvious headline to this game. Jose Mourinho returns to the Italian capital over a decade after swapping Inter for Real Madrid. His Champions League win with Porto was a truly historic one, and he then repeated this feat in Milan. They finished second in their respective group to Barcelona before Inter struck back against the Spanish giants in the semi-finals. A Diego Milito brace made the difference at the Bernabeu versus Bayern Munich.
🥲 The retirement of Goran Pandev from professional football now means that all of Inter's starting XI from the 2010 Champions League final victory have ended their playing days.
The only Italian football team to win the treble, under the guidance of Jose Mourinho. 🇮🇹🏆🏆🏆 pic.twitter.com/5EhZidhUdp
— GiveMeSport (@GiveMeSport) September 27, 2022
Roma themselves will be seeing a couple of familiar faces in the form of Dzeko and Henrikh Mkhitaryan. The latter may well be involved from the start given that Hakan Calhanoglu and Marcelo Brozovic are injured, notable absentees for Inzaghi. Mourinho will be without Lorenzo Pellegrini and Georginio Wijnaldum.
At the top end of the pitch, Roma’s key duo are Tammy Abraham and Paulo Dybala. The latter has hit the ground running since moving from Juventus, whereas the former had to watch on from the sidelines as England lost to Italy and drew with Germany. Dybala leads his side in goals whilst his fellow countryman Lautaro Martinez does so for the Nerazzurri.
It promises to be a fascinating encounter as Jose Mourinho returns to a club where he had so much success. He has Roma heading in the right direction – they won the inaugural UEFA Europa Conference League last year after all. Both of these sides will be in the mix for Champions League football, with loftier ambitions on top of that, and who prevails this weekend could be decisive in the race.
“Roma needed Mourinho, and Mourinho needed Roma, he needed a fanbase that got fully behind him without any reservations.”
– Claudio Ranieri pic.twitter.com/vcEIpB50BN
— J (@MourinhoPics) September 30, 2022
